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No Pardon for Billy the Kid

PHOENIX — In his final weeks in office, Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico flew to Cuba and North Korea on freelance negotiating trips and then traveled back in history, to the Old West, to decide whether to pardon a notorious outlaw.

When Mr. Richardson announced in Santa Fe, N.M., on Friday, his last day in office, that he would not pardon Billy the Kid, he prompted sighs of relief from descendants of those who hunted down the young gunman. He also underscored the expansive view he has long held of himself as a politician and diplomat.

“If one is to rewrite a chapter as prominent as this, there had better be certainty as to the facts, the circumstances and the motivations of those involved,” Mr. Richardson said in announcing that he would not tamper with the history of a man whose life was spent “pillaging, ravaging and killing the deserving and the innocent alike.”

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Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, seen in his office in August, will not pardon Billy the Kid.Credit
Mark Holm for The New York Times

At issue was a pardon that Lew Wallace, a territorial governor, apparently offered Billy the Kid in 1879 if the outlaw would testify before a grand jury about a killing he had witnessed. The Kid testified, but Mr. Wallace never followed through.

Mr. Richardson, a history buff who has a replica of Mr. Wallace’s office chair in his desk, said his reading of the historical record convinced him that a pardon was offered, but he said he lacked enough evidence to know why Mr. Wallace had decided against the deal.

Mr. Richardson said he also factored into his decision that Billy the Kid, who also went by the names Henry McCarty and William H. Bonney, killed two lawmen after the deal fell through and he had escaped from jail.

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William Bonney, also known as Billy the Kid.Credit
Lincoln County Heritage Trust, via Associated Press

Mr. Richardson’s very public contemplation of a pardon provoked strong reactions in the state — even more so because people who claim family links to the central characters in the drama still live there.

While considering the pardon, Mr. Richardson discussed the matter with three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren of Sheriff Pat Garrett, who shot Billy the Kid to death in 1881. They had opposed the proposed pardon, as did Mr. Wallace’s great-grandson William Wallace.

“Best to leave history alone,” Susannah Garrett, a granddaughter of the sheriff, said in an e-mail. “May he rest in peace.”

Mr. Richardson said on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” where he announced his decision, “It’s living history.”

A version of this article appears in print on January 1, 2011, on Page A10 of the New York edition with the headline: For 2nd Time in 131 Years, Billy the Kid Is Denied Pardon. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe